Orbital dynamics of high area-to-mass ratio spacecraft with J2 and solar radiation pressure for novel Earth observation and communication services
Orbital dynamics of high area-to-mass ratio spacecraft with J2 and solar radiation pressure for novel Earth observation and communication services
This paper investigates the effect of planetary oblateness and solar radiation pressure on the orbits of high area-to-mass spacecraft. A planar Hamiltonian model shows the existence of equilibrium orbits with the orbit apogee pointing towards or away from the Sun. These solutions are numerically continued to non-zero inclinations and considering the obliquity of the ecliptic plane relative to the equator. Quasi-frozen orbits are identified in eccentricity, inclination and the angle between the Sun-line and the orbit perigee. The long-term evolution of these orbits is then verified through numerical integration. A set of ‘heliotropic’ orbits with apogee pointing in the direction of the Sun is proposed for enhancing imaging and telecommunication on the day side of the Earth. The effects of J2 and solar radiation pressure are exploited to obtain a passive rotation of the apsides line following the Sun; moreover the effect of solar radiation pressure enables such orbits at higher eccentricities with respect to the J2 only case
137-150
Colombo, Camilla
595ced96-9494-40f2-9763-ad4a0f96bc86
Lücking, Charlotte
fd25bf1e-2dd3-4cdf-bee4-92c21d3a5ef2
McInnes, Colin R.
7cc26e55-9787-4f37-b359-400fe66e2468
December 2012
Colombo, Camilla
595ced96-9494-40f2-9763-ad4a0f96bc86
Lücking, Charlotte
fd25bf1e-2dd3-4cdf-bee4-92c21d3a5ef2
McInnes, Colin R.
7cc26e55-9787-4f37-b359-400fe66e2468
Colombo, Camilla, Lücking, Charlotte and McInnes, Colin R.
(2012)
Orbital dynamics of high area-to-mass ratio spacecraft with J2 and solar radiation pressure for novel Earth observation and communication services.
Acta Astronautica, 81 (1), .
(doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2012.07.009).
Abstract
This paper investigates the effect of planetary oblateness and solar radiation pressure on the orbits of high area-to-mass spacecraft. A planar Hamiltonian model shows the existence of equilibrium orbits with the orbit apogee pointing towards or away from the Sun. These solutions are numerically continued to non-zero inclinations and considering the obliquity of the ecliptic plane relative to the equator. Quasi-frozen orbits are identified in eccentricity, inclination and the angle between the Sun-line and the orbit perigee. The long-term evolution of these orbits is then verified through numerical integration. A set of ‘heliotropic’ orbits with apogee pointing in the direction of the Sun is proposed for enhancing imaging and telecommunication on the day side of the Earth. The effects of J2 and solar radiation pressure are exploited to obtain a passive rotation of the apsides line following the Sun; moreover the effect of solar radiation pressure enables such orbits at higher eccentricities with respect to the J2 only case
Text
paper_acta_IAC2011_05_pageproof.pdf
- Accepted Manuscript
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e-pub ahead of print date: 23 August 2012
Published date: December 2012
Organisations:
Astronautics Group
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 342364
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/342364
ISSN: 0094-5765
PURE UUID: 42d788db-e44c-4e30-bd59-51e0fd05885b
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Date deposited: 24 Aug 2012 08:17
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 11:49
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Contributors
Author:
Camilla Colombo
Author:
Charlotte Lücking
Author:
Colin R. McInnes
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